Complicated
by squarened
Summary: Charlie often finds himself thinking about Bella and Edward's relationship. And half the time it doesn't make any sense. This night isn't any different. ONESHOT, unbetaed


AN: This is from a prompt based community on Livejournal, twilightathon.

It's unbetaed, just so you're warned.

Enjoy!

Charlie shifted on the sofa to get more comfortable. He wasn't really paying any attention to the TV. No, that really wasn't what was important to him at the moment. What _was _important was that that Cullen boy was in the kitchen with Bella. _His _Bella. He strained his ears to hear their conversation, but he wasn't getting much.

"I'm just saying." Charlie just barely picked out the muted smooth voice of Edward over the sizzle of the frying pan on the stove. His brow knitted together. What was Cullen 'just saying'?

There was an audible sigh. "I know, I know. It's just -Well, it just… doesn't feel right if I don't let her have her fun. Alice will be Alice, right?"

He heard the soft chuckle of Edward Cullen, as though she'd made a joke- a joke Chief Swan wasn't getting. This disgruntled him; he didn't like not knowing what was going on between those two. He grudgingly remembered that he'd told Bella he'd cut Edward some slack, but that was damn near impossible when they were acting the way they were. He frowned deeper still. The way they always were.

Charlie remembered when he'd been first introduced to Edward as Bella's boyfriend. Then nothing was complicated. Sure, he felt a bit surprised that she all of a sudden had a boyfriend, but it was simple enough. He didn't feel suspicious of them and he didn't have to worry if what was between them was more than what it seemed like.

Why did it have to get so complicated? Charlie wondered to himself. Charlie didn't deny it, he knew very little about Edward and Bella's relationship nowadays. They were always so _secretive. _Bella was constantly sidestepping Charlie's questions, awkwardly. Just the other night Charlie had asked Bella about her and Edward's dorm arrangements. He wanted to make sure that their rooms weren't too close together. He'd asked her very casually –he made sure to sound totally indifferent. There was nothing for her to be suspicious or awkward about. She was anyway.

"Oh… Um, well, I have a different dorm than Edward. So, there's not need to worry. I mean, if that's what you were worrying about. Or, I mean, it's not like we're going to, I don't know, live on our own and get married or anything," she said with a little nervous laugh, though it sounded forced and slightly hysterical. She cleared her throat nervously and averted her eyes from Charlie, her cheeks turning bright red.

He frowned. Did he say anything about them living on their own? Or getting married, for that matter? He remembered asking her what their dorm room numbers were. He decided to let it drop. Maybe he didn't really sound as casual as he thought.

It still bothered him. Edward himself was especially cryptic. He was much smoother about it, but he could still tell that Edward had answered his question without really answering it. The same night he asked Bella about the dorm room situation, he decided that if she wasn't going to give him a strait answer, Edward would.

"So, Edward," Charlie started, ripping his eyes away from the game. Edward's eyes remained glued to the television, watching the replay unusually carefully.

"Yes, Chief Swan?" Edward said finally, and politely as always. Charlie felt a bit bitter about that. He wished that Edward would be ruder, so he could at least count that against him. But had he had nothing on Edward. Except for when he left. But how much longer could he keep using that excuse on Bella? She'd forgiven him before he even came back.

"I was wondering about dorms, and how that was working out…" Charlie trailed off. He studied Edward's expression very carefully. He only saw the slightest tightening of his eyes, but the moment he saw it, it was gone.

"There's no need to worry about that," he said with a crooked smile, before his eyes darted away from Charlie and back to the TV. "Did you see that?" he suddenly said, excited. "That was amazing!"

"What? What'd I miss?" Charlie studied the screen of the TV but only saw the crowd cheering. He grit his teeth together in irritation. Of all the times to talk to Edward… He felt even bitterer towards Edward for drawing his attention away from the football game making him miss a particularly spectacular pass, even if it was entirely unreasonable considering it was really Charlie's fault.

He frowned to himself. He knew he was being ridiculous. He was supposed to be happy for Bella and Edward. However that was practically impossible when he only had a ghost of an idea of what was going on. He did know a few things though. For starters, he knew that they were inexplicably in love. It was certainly inexplicable, he thought, his brow still pulled together in frustration and concentration. He went over it for the hundredth time. Bella and Edward had a good relationship until September. Then something drastically changed, without any warning and Edward and the rest of the Cullen's were gone. Bella suffered tremendously for months on end, and one day she found Jacob. Jacob was so good to her. He was patient and friendly. He was just what Bella needed. Then, just as things were almost all better, she disappeared and she returned with Edward, of all people. And then everything seemed to go down hill from there. At least to Charlie. Suddenly he was left in the dark about everything. He wasn't used to trying so hard to figure things like this out.

Nothing added up. If things went the way Charlie wanted, Bella would be in love with Jacob and forget about Edward. At least that way it made sense. Of course though, that wasn't what happened. And somehow, Bella expected Charlie to be OK with everything –to just except her love for Edward. But that wasn't how things worked for Charlie. How could she possibly expect such a thing from him? He saw how she was with out him, sure, but that didn't exactly make him wish Edward were back. On the contrary he wanted Edward to stay away, so he couldn't do that to Bella ever again.

But still…He couldn't deny the fact that Bella was exponentially happier now that Edward was back. The love they seemed to have for each other was almost tangible when he was in the same room with both of them. Their relationship was certainly more sophisticated than normal teenage relationships. But it was hard for him to force himself to just accept it all, even if he promised Bella that he would. It was a hard promise to keep.

However he hadn't promised Bella he'd cut Edward some slack out of the blue, or just because he was in a good mood. He'd been mulling over the whole thing for quite a while. It kept him up late at night and distracted him at work. It would spring up at him when he least expected it. He would suddenly remember how when the doorbell rang, signaling Edward's arrival, Bella would immediately drop everything and run to get the door enthusiastically. He would remember them embracing before he left, and how they looked into each other's eyes and murmur promises of returning and eternal love. It made him feel embarrassed. It was so private, that he had to look away. But every time he saw them hold each other in that way and whisper lovingly, or even think about it, he couldn't help but start to see that they were in fact in love. Another fact he couldn't deny.

Charlie pressed his lips together. He realized suddenly how much denial he was in. Denial had become an unconscious reflex for him. It had always had been, he thought bitterly, reminding himself of how he handled Renée leaving. What did he do? He denied it. He simply thought to himself that she would come back, that this wasn't as permanent as it seemed. Oh, how wrong he had been. And now he found himself denying Bella and Edward's relationship. He wasn't so much denying himself as much as simply allowing Bella to feed him all her lies.

Even then. He found himself lying to himself for just about every aspect of the relationship. He knew that Edward wasn't as bad as he kept telling himself, if that was whom Bella wanted to be with. Edward had always been very polite to Charlie, never disagreeing with him or retaliating against him. He was a good kid and he seemed to mean well and all, but still. Charlie couldn't get over why he left Bella hanging like that. He never called or sent any letters, emails, nothing. There was no contact between them whatsoever over the seven months, or so, that he'd been gone. And as soon as he came back everything seemed to just go back to normal, as if that time hadn't passed. That excruciating period of time was somehow not at all forgettable to Charlie, and he'd only been an observer of it all. But that was painful enough, to have to see someone go through all that.

He shook his head to clear the thought from his head. He was getting off subject here; he was trying to think about to pros of Edward. A negative thought crept into his head but he quickly shoved it back into the dark recesses of his mind. The point of this wasn't to list the _cons._ He'd already done that many times. OK, thus far he could admit that Edward was polite and well intentioned. And that he –Charlie was reluctant to think the word- was in love with Bella. And a good kid. What else was there? He was protective, nice (hadn't Charlie already said that?) and he was… Charlie never completed the thought. Again: what did it matter what he thought? It wasn't about him.

He said it like a mantra every time he felt any reproach when he saw Bella and Edward being affectionate. He knew they were happy together. He was just being stubborn in the end.

Still.

He suddenly heard Bella's laugh from the kitchen. He tilted his head back so he could peer into the kitchen. Bella was out of view but he could see Edward sitting in a chair at the table, his back to Charlie. His hair was stylishly disheveled, as per usual. Edward was still talking, but he couldn't hear his voice over the TV. Bella laughed again.

"I can't believe Emmett. That's ridiculous," she said, with a laugh. "That's too funny."

Charlie strained his ears to hear Edward's short response; "To you. I've never been so mortified in my life." Edward's tone was filled with the mortification and disgust of which he spoke.

Charlie was confused and intrigued. He turned off the TV, to end the riffraff pouring from the speakers. He listened closely, but apparently Edward and Bella were done with this conversation.

Charlie waited though for a moment for their conversation to resume, so he could be further enlightened, but it didn't.

He sighed. He was starting to wonder when dinner was going to be ready. He hadn't been paying attention to how hungry he was getting. "Hey, Bells?" he called.

"Yeah, dad?" she answered from the kitchen.

"Dinner almost ready?"

She paused before answering. "Uh, yeah. One sec –I need to set the table."

Charlie just barely managed to heave himself off the couch –it was a lot more work than it was worth and than it used to be, he thought. He was just tired. That was all- and lumbered to the doorway of the kitchen.

Bella was standing by the stove with a spatula in hand. She expertly scooped the breaded fish –surprise, surprise- out of the pan and placed them neatly on a platter. Edward watched her –a flicker of omnipresent curiosity in his eyes.

Charlie frowned –Edward didn't normally stay over for dinner. The Cullen's were to be a lot closer knit than most families and ate dinner together every night. Charlie thought that's how all families should be.

Right on cue Edward announced that he was late for dinner and ought to get home.

Bella frowned for a moment then sighed, her expression defeated. "Alright. Hold on Charlie –I'm going to show Edward out, OK?" She said as Edward pushed his seat back and stood fluently –much like every other movement of his, Charlie noted- to wait for her.

"Sure thing," Charlie said as casually as possible, though he even sounded a little sarcastic to himself.

"Thanks," she said as she walked around the counter and walk to Edward. Charlie's eyes, mostly due to routine, zeroed in on their hands; he watched as Edward, almost imperceptibly, slyly took Bella's hand in his as she walked to his side.

Charlie stood, frozen with indecision, behind his usual chair; he could do either one of two things: sit down and wait for Bella to come back or peek at Bella through the window.

It was pretty obvious to him what the answer was –he was only doing what any father in his situation would do, he reassured himself as he tip-toed to the window, afraid they'd be able to hear him somehow.

They were standing next to his car, holding hands and looking at each other. Edward's lips were moving as he spoke to her, a slight, crooked smile tugged at a corner of his lips. Bell looked up at him, imploringly. Charlie felt a familiar pang of embarrassment as he watched Edward duck his head to kiss Bella gently on her forehead. He averted his eyes and carefully studied the intricate pattern of the white fibers knit together in his socks.

Charlie reminded himself there was a reason why he was standing there. He looked up, only to see Edward's car just pulling out of the driveway. Bella stood on the front walk, her hand raised slightly in a small wave.

She stood outside for a moment longer, before walking back inside.

Charlie sprinted to the chair and made it just as Bella walked in through the kitchen doorway. She looked at him curiously as she walked to the counter to get retrieve their dinner. She set the platter gingerly, in the center of the small table.

He couldn't help but notice the disappointment in her features –her brow was pushed together slightly, forming a bitter line between her eyebrows, the corners of her mouth were turned down.

Charlie knew that he had to say something. Anything. They had to get this out into the open. He took a deep breath, in preparation to begin, but Bella beat him to it.

"Dad?" she said, her voice hesitant.

"Yeah, Bella?"

She paused as she placed a piece of fish on her plate.

"Bella?" He asked egging her on.

"We need to talk," she finally said, glancing up at him.

Charlie sighed then nodded. "Definitely."

She hesitated again before continuing. "It's about Edward and I."

Charlie watched her carefully, suddenly suspicious. "Yeah?"

She cleared her throat nervously as she cut her fish, stalling. He waited, in impatient silence. "You know how you said you wanted me to tell you if we were going to run off, or something?" she finally uttered.

Charlie froze, mid bite. "Yes?" he said when he could get a hold on himself. He felt his chest tighten. Please, he begged internally, to whatever deity that was willing to listen, not now. Please give me some more time. Please let her be talking about something else! Anything else!

But Bella's face broke into a grin, obviously misreading Charlie's expression, and continued by saying three of the most horrible and, in the very end, splendid words she'd ever said: "We're getting married."

AN: Was that a craptastic ending or what? That was the best ending I could come up with, unfortunately.

Well, I hope the rest of it turned out decently –I've been working on it forever. Intermittently, of course, but still.


End file.
